


Promise

by mangorochi



Category: EXO (Band), K-pop
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Fantasy, M/M, Magic-Users, everyone appears at one point if you look hard enough
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2017-01-27
Packaged: 2018-08-22 15:47:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8291419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mangorochi/pseuds/mangorochi
Summary: It's too bad Luhan chose the wrong night to go out alone, because Sehun is very hungry, and there's no way Luhan is going to come out of this encounter unchanged.





	1. The First Snow

**Author's Note:**

> haha first exo fic hell yeah. I'm pretty conflicted about k pop fics in general (yes I am a hypocrite) because they're actual people and some fans are just so damn crazy? But at the same time some stories are so well written and cute and i just? Whatever. Just let me indulge in, honestly, my favorite fic setting. No shame. Fantasy! Vampires! Angst! Some fluff but who knows where I'm taking this! Enjoy this mess of a first chapter (I wrote this all in one sitting and totally on a whim). P.s. I suck at writing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha first exo fic hell yeah. I'm actually kinda conflicted about k pop fics in general (yes I am a hypocrite) because they're actual people and some fans are just so damn crazy and blah blah, but at the end of the day- it's f a k e. But at the same time some stories are so well written and cute and i just? Whatever. Just let me indulge in, honestly, my favorite fic setting. No shame. Fantasy! Vampires! Angst! Some fluff but who knows where I'm taking this! Enjoy this mess of a first chapter (I wrote this all in one sitting and totally on a whim). P.s. I suck at writing.

Luhan could see his breath forming tiny little puffs in the dim light cast by the occasional streetlight. The freshly fallen snow crunched under his boots, and shimmered like glitter in the darkness. Luhan loved it when it snowed enough to cover rooftops like icing on a gingerbread house and bodies of water as one, untouched piece of pure white. 

As a bitterly cold breeze blew across his face, he fixed the thick cashmere scarf more securely around his neck. He got sick easily enough as it was. He didn’t need to go and practically open his immune system up for a cold. 

A small vibration and bright ringtone pulled his thoughts back to the world. He pulled out his phone from his pocket and quickly scanned the most recent text message.

 

9:57 P.M.

From: yixing

Make sure to get some animal crackers too

 

Luhan scoffed into his scarf and tucked his phone back into his coat pocket. Yixing was his dear friend and roommate, but sometimes the twenty four year old acted more like a child twenty years his junior

It was the same impulsive, childish kind of behavior that explained why Luhan was trekking through the snow so late at night. Yixing had gotten a hankering for omelettes and apple juice, both of which they were out of. Luhan had been quite firm and happy with staying in his spot on the couch, where it was warm and  _ not snowing _ , but Yixing had been persistent. Persistent, as in, whined nonstop and threatened to never cook for Luhan again. That got Luhan’s ass into gear. Yixing’s cooking was no joke, and seeing as Luhan could barely crack and egg without spilling the yolk everywhere, he was taking no risks. 

Besides, the nearby corner store was barely more than a five minute walk from their apartment. Of course, there was one or two dark alleys on the way there that made Luhan tighten his grip on his phone, thumb poised over the speed dial number for 911, but he managed to make it the store in one piece.

The gust of cold air that greeted him as he exited the warm, heated store was not pleasant, to say the least. Cursing his villainous roommate under his breath, Luhan fixed the top button of his black jacket, wishing he’d worn a heavier and thicker one in lieu of the slimmer, more fashionable one he’d gone with instead. 

Nearby, an owl hooted lyrically. It was the only sound that pierced the otherwise dead silence of the night. If it weren’t for the lamppost on every other block, Luhan would barely be able to make out the outlines of parked cars and building walls. 

Unconsciously, he picked up his pace. There was something about tonight that unnerved him, made his heart beat one or two quips faster. Maybe it was just the fact that he hadn’t noticed he was so cold that his gloveless fingers were starting to go numb at the tips. He barely registered the fact that he was gripping his phone so hard, his knuckles were white. 

An unexpected sound from his phone nearly made him slip on the sidewalk and crack his head open when his legs suddenly locked up in fright. 

Luhan pulled his scarf away from his mouth to calm his heavy breathing as he pulled out his phone.

 

10:13 P.M.

From: yixing

I’m starting the movie without u if u don’t hurry up

 

“Oh go fuck yourself,” Luhan muttered under his breath, not bothering to respond to the message. He was cold, tired, hungry, and all he wanted to do was go home so Yixing could make himself a damn omelette. He really was too much of a pushover. 

Luhan faintly realized that the owl had stopped hooting and the only sound on the entire block was just his breathing and the crunching sounds of his footfalls. He kept his eyes on the moonlight path ahead of him, eyes flitting to the side as he approached another alley. 

_ Goddamnit Luhan, just relax, _ he calmed himself. He’d definitely watched one too many horror movies with his friends. And it didn’t help that just the other day, he’d read in the news that a girl had gone missing, with only a bloodied, ripped, piece of clothing left as evidence.

He mentally cursed himself for thinking about that  _ now _ , out of all times. The dark walls of the alley loomed closer and closer, and Luhan could feel his hands getting sweatier. 

Ok. Just walk. Keep walking. 

His strides got longer and longer, until he passed the sketchy alley, which was more like a narrow pathway leading somewhere.

Luhan sighed in relief. His apartment was just up ahead. 

He lifted his right hand out of his warm and comforting pocket to fix a strand of hair that had fallen in front of his eyes when suddenly, there was a icy, vice like grip on the wrist and another hand that came over Luhan’s mouth and muffled his immediate screams. He felt a rough tug and then the sensation of being dragged backwards; his other arm rendered completely useless and pinned to the side of his body by a strong arm that snaked around his bicep and connected with the hand over his mouth. 

_ No. No. No, no, no, no,nononononono.  _

Luhan’s nerves were fried as he went into overdrive. This couldn’t be happening. His eyesight was blurry and everything was watery from the tears that welled up but had yet to fall. Despite the shock and cold that had his legs stiff as a board, he dug his heels into the ground, trying to do his best to slow down whatever awful demise that was sure to await him. 

His attacker rounded a corner, and Luhan barely saw the edge of the alleyway entrance when he made a break for it, tugging his left arm out of its cage by his side. A strangled, desperate, almost animalistic sound died in Luhan’s throat as he lunged for the open sidewalk, arm swinging around to just barely grip the edge of the alley wall before there was a rough jerk that disoriented him for a few seconds. 

The back of Luhan’s head made contact with the cold brick wall. He whimpered from the quick shot of pain he felt, knowing that it would bruise. It was then, with his right arm pinned against the wall by that steely grip on his wrist, and his entire body pressed up against the wall, that he saw his attacker for the first time. 

His eyes. They were illuminated by the glowy moonlight and faint yellow shadow from the lamp across the street. Luhan noticed with a stroke- inducing heart rate that his eyes were a deep red but bright enough that he could see the resemblance in color to blood. 

Messy blonde hair with dark roots. Luhan faintly registered the fact that it had started lightly snowing again, the white specks dusting the stranger’s hair and clinging to his eyelashes. 

He looked almost… ethereal. In a crude, sharp, dangerous way. Luhan felt a shiver go up and down his spine and the man smirked, barely lifting his upper lip up, but enough for Luhan to see something glint in the dull light. 

A tooth. A fang. The edge was sharpened to a delicate point. 

Luhan began to panic again. His body shook with fear, legs scrambling to back up away from the man, but finding nothing but firm wall as the  _ thing  _ pressed up closer against the shorter man. 

It leaned in close to Luhan’s ear and his heavy breathing was strained with barely- there whimpers of help. His voice seemed to be frozen in his throat as he struggled to make out words for help. For Yixing. Anyone.

“Y- Yi- xing! Yi-!” His feeble cries were suddenly cut off when the thing nuzzled its way to his neck, its nose leaving a burning, frozen path that seemed to sear into Luhan’s skin. An ice cold hand came up to roughly rip off Luhan’s scarf, and yanked the neck of his coat to one side, exposing the soft, pale skin underneath. He shuddered violently when he felt the pangs of the winter air hit the skin.

“Don’t cry, little deer,” came a smooth, low voice. Luhan turned his head in attempt to get away from the voice, and unknowingly exposing his neck even more. He hadn’t even noticed there were tears coming down his face as he stared down at the ground, eyes unfocused. 

It seemed so cruel that this would be how he’d die. Alone, in an alley. All alone and cold and nobody there to even see him to the next life. It was so unfair. He would die scared and frightened and nobody was there to help him. 

“You smell,” Luhan barely heard the sinuous voice through the rushing in his ears, “absolutely  _ delicious _ .” And then there was a small, warm feeling of something dragging across the veins on the side of his neck before a gentle pressure dipped down on the surface of his skin. And then the pain. 

Noises gurgled and died in Luhan’s throat as his eyes clouded with tears. It hurt so bad. It hurt so much and the pain overcame everything else in his mind, leaving him blank and damn near to passing out. It felt like there was a burning sensation on his neck, like someone had left a piping hot iron there to sit. It came in waves and didn’t stop, turning his legs to mush. 

Luhan was held up by whatever it was that was in front of him. It only stopped once, to fix its fangs and re-position them on Luhan’s neck. 

His eyes were getting heavy, and everything in front of him was starting to swim. Luhan managed to glance back at the blonde head of hair that was literally sucking the life out of him. It raised up, as if noticing the brunette’s focus on it, and Luhan saw a wide smudge of crimson on its lips and when they curved into a smile, he saw two glinting canines, looking almost cruel. 

He fell into darkness. 


	2. Prelude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay! Speedy update! Honestly, don't expect updates as fast as this- I was just really in the writing mood and was so glad that this story got kudos and bookmarks on the first chapter! So thanks to everyone who left some love- this one's for you. Oh, but uh, p.s. I might rewrite this because I'm not too happy with the way it turned out. There's a whole lot of scene description and just....ok just read.

Yixing glanced at the antique grandfather clock that rested in the corner of the small living room. Although the handsome, dark wood clashed terribly with the contemporary, bright atmosphere of the room, Yixing couldn’t bear to part with the family heirloom that had been given to him from his mother, and Luhan didn’t mind.

_ Luhan _ , Yixing thought with a slight twinge of worry. It was nearly 10:30. Luhan had been gone for over 40 minutes and Yixing hadn’t gotten so much as a text saying where he was. The nearby corner store wasn’t that far away. Hell, Yixing had figured the trip would only take Luhan twenty minutes tops. 

Suddenly, he felt incredibly guilty. He shouldn’t have made Luhan go out into the freezing night just for his random night cravings. Yixing checked his phone for the nth time that night, scrolling through his recent string of texts asking Luhan where he was and to respond back as soon as he could. He pressed the call button again, sighing when all he heard was silence. 

The movie that was playing on the TV in front of him might as well have not been there. Yixing gripped the fleece blanket that was draped over his legs and chewed his lower lip. Should he call the police? Or go out after Luhan himself? As hypocritical as it was, Yixing wasn’t terribly thrilled at the idea of going out into the cold at night. But then what if something awful had happened to the other man? Luhan wasn’t incredibly small and was more or less capable of taking care of himself, but his sweet, gentle looks gave off the impression that he was harmless. If something were to happen to him…

Yixing could feel the burn of tears springing to his eyes. 

“Oh God, Luhan… where are you?” He murmured to himself, clutching his head with one hand. If the brunette still hadn’t come back in ten minutes, he was going after the other man himself. And calling the cops. And Xiumin, because he was sure to know what to do.

Right?

* * *

 

An intense, throbbing pain on his neck shook him awake. His eyes opened blearily at first, to see his hand in front of him, stretched out on nothing but pure white. It took Luhan a minute to get a grip on his surroundings and he realized the soft material his head was cushioned on was a pillow. He was on a bed. 

As soon as this fact registered in his brain, his hand flexed and gripped the thin, clean sheet that was draped over him. The mere task of sitting up made his head spin nauseatingly, and he had to lean back and rest his head on the headboard. He winced in pain when his head made contact with the board, gingerly touching the back of his head and finding a lump of considerable size. Great.

Luhan’ eyes flitted over the room. It was spacious, nearly the size of half of his and Yixing’s entire apartment. There was an entire wall’s span of what Luhan figured were windows, covered up with dark red, ornate curtains. The walls were painted a deep maroon, and there was a gold side sofa pushed off to the right of the bed and a matching gold armoire and a dark, wooden table that was set in front of the couch. He noted the pair of elegant double doors across the room, and another, smaller door that was next to the armoire.

If only he knew where the hell he was. 

Luhan rubbed his eyes wearily, trying to recollect some memories leading up to this moment. He… had gone to buy Yixing some food and… then…   
He was here? What? Something didn’t line up. 

Maybe Yixing had brought him here. Luhan sighed tiredly and rubbed his neck, only to find a rough patch on the left side. His fingers carefully pressed down on the bandage, and he was met with a streak of pain flashing by. This was when he started panicking. 

His breathing started becoming erratic, his eyes wild and searching and doing nothing to help the overwhelming nausea he felt. 

_ He’d been walking… and then there was that sketchy alley… and then. Then something grabbed him. He hit his head. It was cold. And the thing had two… fangs.  _

Luhan stifled a shudder when he recalled the events from the night. Was it even still night? How long had he been out? He figured the psycho had been some crazy, Halloween- obsessed creep, and now here Luhan was. Alone. In God knows where. Completely at the mercy of his captor. 

He was going to die if he didn’t move. 

Hurriedly, he pulled off the thin sheet covering him and noted his coat and shoes were gone. He was dressed in only the thin, navy long sleeve and dark wash jeans he had left the house in. The grand room seemed at an absurdly low temperature, and Luhan swore he could see his breath in front of him. 

He scrambled to check his pockets for his phone, but swore loudly when he realized it had been in his jacket. Which the  _ thing  _ (Luhan refused to acknowledge the thing was human) had probably taken. 

Legs shaking like two flimsy noodles, Luhan carefully put weight on one leg, then the other when he could manage to stand up without lurching to one side. He mentally thanked whatever carpet god that the flooring was a plush, dark carpet that muffled the sound of his footfalls. Luhan quickly made his way to the set of double doors, heart racing faster than a hummingbird’s. 

His shaky fingers touched the cold, brassy doorknobs as he was torn between staying in the room or taking a risk and going out. Maybe he should just stay here and wait by the door for someone to come, then knock them out with a lamp the minute they entered. The idea didn’t seem half bad. 

But then Luhan thought of Yixing, who was probably beside himself, wracked with worry and concern for Luhan. His heart lurched painfully and made his decision for him. He was getting the hell out of whatever hellhole this was. 

Luhan pressed an ear against the doors to check for any sounds on the opposite side. Hearing nothing, he carefully twisted the doorknob and cracked the door open just enough for him to slide his slim body through. 

This room had been at the end of a hall, Luhan noticed with a flash of fear. If someone were to come down the corridor, he’d have nowhere to hide. The walls were colored the same maroon as his room had been, and there was only a candle stand placed in a concave part of the wall. 

Luhan hugged himself and tried not to conjure up any frightening thoughts. He wished he had his phone so he could at least let Yixing know what happened to him. Or, at least, do his best to describe what was happening. 

His sock- covered feet quickly padded down the corridor and he turned right at random. He found himself in a circular room, a library of sorts, with books surrounding him everywhere he looked. In another scenario, Luhan would’ve stopped in awe and taken the time to explore and run his fingers over the aged- looking spines of the books, but for now, he plowed ahead, heading straight for the spiral staircase leading downstairs in the middle of the room. 

Halfway down the steps, a wave of dizziness surged through him and Luhan pitched to one side, clinging onto the side of the staircase for dear life. His eyes fluttered and his breathing was clearly audible as he struggled to regain his balance. His stomach was doing gymnastics inside of him and the pain on his neck was stronger than ever. Luhan felt like he’d been drugged. 

He swallowed hard, briefly closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before heaving himself off the edge of the staircase and facing front again. He opened his eyes. 

There was a man. He stared at Luhan with a straight face, then cocked his head to the right. 

Luhan felt his heart jump into his throat. He couldn’t move. His shaking arms grabbed onto the handrails on either side of him. He felt like his legs would give out at any moment. 

The man just stared passively at Luhan’s fear- filled face. His hands were behind his back, as if he was waiting for Luhan to say something. 

Luhan took in the stranger’s blond hair with dark roots, the sharp cut of his jawline, the straight nose and emotionless eyes. 

Black. His eyes were black. Not red. 

Luhan swallowed hard and took a shaky step back up the stairs, silently hoping the other wouldn’t notice. Of course, as luck would have it, he wasn’t so fortunate. 

“Trying to run away, are we?” The man drawled out, smirking ever so slightly. Luhan raised a hand to his mouth, trying not to cry out when he saw the faint point of a sharpened canine inside his mouth.  _ What the hell was going on? This man wasn’t actually a… was he?  _

“No,” Luhan whispered, his voice wavering, “No, they don’t exist. You can’t be- this can’t be happening.” The red eyes. The teeth. The wound on Luhan’s neck. None of this was real. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. 

The thing sighed and took a steady step closer to Luhan, grabbing the hands that were on the handrails and interlocking them with his. Luhan felt his back painfully hit the steps, the monster looming over him like a wolf who had just captured its prey. 

There was a feeling of deja vu when it leaned into Luhan’s neck, taking a deep breath and sighing blissfully. Luhan could almost hear his heart thumping painfully in his chest. 

“Are you scared?” It whispered. Oh God. Luhan didn’t want to answer- couldn’t answer as his scream for help died in his throat. 

“St- stop,” he cried pitifully. He felt so vulnerable in his position. So weak and helpless and scared.

There was a loud, ringing laugh that hurt Luhan’s ears. He could feel a cold breath against his cheek and he shut his eyes, not wanting to look into the creature’s eyes. This was it. He was going to die. 

“Sehun. Stop.”

Luhan felt the breath vanish, and then the hold on his hands tighten once before releasing them. He was left disoriented, his hair messy and breathing erratic as anything. He curled up into a small ball, hands shaking and covering his face and just wishing he could go home. Luhan peered over the tips of his fingers to see the thing ( _ Sehun, he supposed _ ) with its back to him. There was someone else there. 

“This is none of your business,  _ Joonmyeon _ ,” Sehun said with an emphasis on the other’s name that Luhan didn’t understand. 

Sehun was tall, and obstructed Luhan’s view of the other person, but he caught glimpses of a man dressed elaborately, with lots of layers and a plaid scarf wrapped around his neck. He didn’t appear to be very happy from what Luhan could see.

“It’s my business if I make it mine. Just let the kid go,” Joonmyeon snapped, pointing his chin behind Sehun at Luhan. 

Luhan’s pulse rose again. This guy wasn’t as coldhearted as Sehun; he was going to let Luhan go. Sehun would relent, and Luhan would be able to go home. 

“Mm, I don’t think so,” Sehun said with a slight grin. “I like this one.” 

Joonmyeon clicked his tongue impatiently and shifted his weight on his feet.

“Sehun, you always do this, you asshole. Play with them until they die and then get a new one. We’re the ones who always have to clean up your goddamn messes.”

Luhan shut his eyes when he felt a small gust of wind and when he opened them again, Sehun was gone and at the bottom of the staircase, nose to nose with Joonmyeon. 

This was it. He could run. Joonmyeon was understanding, he would stop Sehun. It was almost laughable how easily Luhan was willing to bet everything on the two minutes he had met this Joonmyeon fellow. 

Luhan picked himself up and flew down the stairs, skipping two at a time and rounding the corner past Sehun and Joonmyeon. Neither seemed to pursue him as he bolted down a hall, skidding on the hardwood floor like a newborn calf. He pushed through a door at random, almost crying out in relief when he saw a large entrance way, an ornate door with two winding staircases on either side of it. 

Luhan wasted no time dashing across the marble floor when suddenly, his legs gave out and he took a nosedive to the floor. His head was swimming, and there was a strong urge that he was going to be violently sick. It felt like he’d just gotten done with a gymnastics floor routine with the way everything around him seemed to pitch to one side. Luhan coughed and edged his way to the door. He forced his legs to push himself up, one outstretched hand scrabbling to latch onto the doorknob. 

A larger, colder, one covered it and removed Luhan’s hand. He tried yelling, _ no! Stop!  _ But the only thing that came out was a whimper of lost hope. 

He felt a pair of ice cold lips brush against the knuckles of his hand before he completely lost the strength to keep himself upright and collapsed on the floor. 

“Little deer… you’re not going anywhere.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...thoughts? Ughh, just the way I keep writing about Luhan's damn heartbeat sigh and Sehun seems so... idk. Thanks for reading!


	3. Let out the Beast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello lovely people of the internet. This week, we'll be seeing how well my writing skills stack up against a limited amount of time, endless homework, and not enough hours in the day :~)) enjoy !

Let out the Beast

 

It was funny how something as simple as an omelette could turn into a life or death situation. Literally. Luhan supposed this wasn’t quite what Yixing had meant when he said it was the difference between life and death.

When he blearily opened his eyes, he noticed he was laying down again, on a plush bed with snow- white sheets and fluffy blankets. The ceiling was black, which indicated to Luhan that he must be in a different room than the one he had been in before. 

He blinked once. Twice. Then groggily shuffled up into a sitting position, head spinning faster than a merry- go- round. His tongue felt heavy in his mouth and more than once he’d gotten the urge to be violently sick. Was he drugged? 

Luhan rubbed an eye and looked around the unfamiliar room. It was completely different from the room he’d previously been housed in. This one was much darker, as well as larger, with dark maroon walls and a black fur carpet and matching interior furnishings. There was an impressive stereo set built into one side of the wall, and a thin TV screen mounted over a fireplace on the wall opposite of the bed.  

Did this freak sell dead bodies for a living or something? Luhan didn’t think he’d be surprised if he did. Maybe him being here was even contributing to the cause. In that case, Luhan would rather death just take him now.  

He took a shaky breath before quietly padding out of bed. Every fiber of his being screamed for him to get back in bed and fake sleep before someone burst into the room and caught him red- handed trying to escape, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t do that to himself, or Yixing, or Xiumin, or any of his loved ones for that matter. Couldn’t resign himself to sit duck and quietly wait for his impending demise. 

The room lurched to one side and the brunette had to quickly latch onto the nearest thing to grab onto, in this case a large set of black drawers. He slapped one hand over his mouth and almost heaved, trying his best to suppress the wave of nausea that stormed and conquered his head. 

Luhan kept his wrist pressed to his lips, quietly slipping out the door. And then there it was. The rush of exhilaration, of desperate freedom, and the feeling of his life resting in his very own hands. This was it. 

He felt like he was blindly walking in circle the way halls seemed to bend and the forks in the hallways all starting to look the same. Luhan kept his head down, movements to a minimum but at a rapid pace. 

He came to the end of one hallway, leading to a door that was halfway open, light streaming in from the other side. Luhan was basked in darkness, the mellow light casting an iridescent glow on his features. 

There were some faint sounds in the other room that Luhan strained to catch coherent details of. It sounded almost like arguing. 

“-ould know better than that!” shouted someone. 

“How is it my fault? How is any of this  _ my fault _ ?!” Luhan’s heart gave a painful  _ thump thump _ when he recognized the second voice as… Sehun, was it? 

He definitely wasn’t about to risk his neck going straight into the enemy’s base. Well,  _ further into  _ the enemy’s base, anyways. But if he was going to die anyways, then was there really any point?

Luhan chewed his bottom lip, eyebrows knit together as he contemplated trying to sneak by the two arguing. He edged closer to the open door, just barely nosing past the doorframe to glance around. It was a kitchen, with sunny yellow tiles paving the walls- a stark contrast to the gothic and dark themes Luhan had seen in the rooms. A large marble island, quaint and rounded table for two, and-

A door. Perhaps one leading out to the back of the house. Luhan could only tell it was an exit/ entrance based on the stained glass panels on either side of the door. He could see a light hanging beside the door from the outside, and the shoe mat placed in front of the door was a dead ringer as well. 

But Luhan wasn’t sure he’d be able to make a quick enough getaway being both outnumbered and feeling like his legs were strapped with weights. 

“Sehun.” The unfamiliar voice pulled Luhan out of his thoughts and he tried to slow his breathing when the arguing stopped, exposing his labored breathing. There were no sounds and Luhan held his breath altogether, hands covering half his face. It felt like an eternity before-

The door ripped open and Luhan fell forward in surprise, a small noise of shock escaping his lips. The sudden light blinded him temporarily and made him scrunch his eyes, barely noticing that a pair of strong arms looped around him, a freezing cold palm plastered against the small of his back. Luhan winced at the sudden contact and barely managed one eye open before he was roughly thrown downwards to the side. The right side of his body had taken the brunt of the fall, shoulder and ribs aching in pain as his arms shook with the heavy task of holding his body up. 

“Sehun!” A harsh, cold voice cut through the air and caught Luhan’s attention. He angrily noticed tears had sprung to his eyes and blinked furiously in attempt to erase any signs of weakness. Not that it really mattered. He was done for either way. 

The man looming over Luhan’s small figure looked strangely passive. His handsome face was almost void of any emotion. Almost. It wasn’t hard to miss the murderous look of contempt in his dark eyes, lips pressed into a thin line. 

For the first time since his kidnapping, Luhan was genuinely scared. Scared, as in, he didn’t know what was going to happen to him and his imagination was running wild. He’d seen way too many horror movies to know where he was going to end up. Maybe forced to live a tortuous life for weeks, months, years, or maybe some higher power would be merciful and end his suffering with a single bullet. 

Or worse. Luhan forced himself to stop thinking about the possibilities, because he was feeling more and more like heaving his guts right onto the polished hardwood floor. 

“God, I hate humans so much,” the tall man finally muttered under his breath. Luhan’s eyes narrowed just a fraction of an inch in confusion of what he’d just said but almost immediately, a hand reached forward, grabbing fistfuls of his soft hair and yanking him to his feet by it. 

“Ow!” Luhan shouted and both his hands went to wrestle back control, his lower lip captured between his teeth as he ignored the pain shooting through his roots. Nevertheless, it didn’t seem like Sehun was moving anytime soon, merely pulling his head to one side and exposing the bandaged skin on his neck. He simply stared at the white cotton, calmly taking in Luhan’s pain- contorted features. 

“Stop, Sehun!” Finally, finally, the pressure on Luhan’s head diminished and he collapsed onto the floor, hands clutching his head as he nursed his wounds. 

Luhan could only see two long, black- clothed legs in front of him. And they weren’t Sehun’s. 

“If it matters so much to you, then  _ you  _ do something about it. It could die for all I care,” came a terse, poisonous response from Sehun before Luhan blinked, and he was gone. The human rubbed his eyes again, not quite believing how fast the other had moved. It was almost supernatural- inhuman. 

There was a shuffled and he found himself staring into a face with strong eyebrows, dark brown eyes, and a mop of wavy blond hair. The man was incredibly good looking, to the point where Luhan had to question if he was even human, he looked so angelic (although perhaps angelic wasn’t  _ quite  _ the right adjective to describe him). 

“Kris,” he said in a low voice and pulled Luhan to his feet with a powerful tug. Luhan felt inferior to him in every way, only coming up to about his chin and feeling incredibly scrutinized under his intense stare.

“Huh?” was the first thing that came out of Luhan’s mouth, his thoughts still scrambling to catch up to what was happening. 

The blond chuckled and turned away from Luhan, walking behind the marble counter and reaching under to grab something. 

“Kris. My name is Kris,” he repeated. He came back up with a carton of sorts. From where Luhan was still standing, a good couple of feet from the other man, he could faintly see some type of fruit labeled on the carton. 

“Here,” Kris said, and suddenly he was in front of Luhan, close enough that Luhan’s heart jumped into his throat and he could see the individual eyelashes on Kris. Something pressed into his hand and when he lifted it up, it was a juice box.

“You should really drink it. I bet you feel pretty dizzy right now,” Kris guessed. Luhan swallowed hard, not realizing how thirsty he actually was. But he was too dazed and confused to do much more than just stare at Kris, legs frozen in place. 

“I-” Luhan’s voice cracked and he cleared his throat, heat rising to his cheeks. “Where am I?”

Kris sighed and sat himself down at the round table for two. “Damn, Sehun really is a bigger idiot than I thought he was.”

Plucking up his courage, Luhan asked, “Who is Sehun? What does he want with me? I’m sorry, I don’t know where I am and I won’t tell anyone about anything just please let me go, and, and I’ll never try to-” he rambled on, his eyes prickling with tears again as he let his emotions flow. 

“Stop.” Kris stared at Luhan’s shuddering figure with an unsmiling look that made him look even more intimidating than Sehun. 

“Luhan, isn’t it?”

A chill ran up the other man’s back. How had he’d known that? 

“I’m sorry. But I don’t think you’ll be leaving anytime soon.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes...please critique/ leave reviews... I am but a lowly writer who is currently drowning in the new cbx songs. But seriously. I'd love to hear what you guys think, good or bad! Thanks for reading


	4. They'll Never Know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn... I had really hoped I'd be able to crank out a 3000-4000 word chapter but alas... that'll have to be for another time. Also ! Thanks for those of you who left kudos and comments because it means the wooooorld to me. This chapter is a bit taxing in terms of dialogue and not a whole lot of action... but next chapter will make up for that! I promise :~)) enjoy!

Chapter 4

They’ll Never Know

 

“Police?”

“I already called.”

“...Chen?”

“Not in the country.”

“Just… just try not panic.”

Yixing lost it. He threw his hands up in the air, whirling around at the shorter man, eyebrows raised to his hairline.

“Don’t panic? Don’t  _ panic _ ? Xiumin, have you got any idea what’s going on? This is Luhan we’re talking about. Goddammit, what if something really did happen to him?  _ How could we even look at each other anymore?! _ ” The tall man shouted, voice raising louder and louder at each word. 

Xiumin took all of his anger without saying anything in return. He knew Yixing was just terribly worried about Luhan, who had been gone for nearly three and a half hours without so much as a word as to his whereabouts. When Yixing had dialed Xiumin’s phone and informed him of the situation, he’d hopped into his car and sped over to the apartment, seriously testing the limits of the legal speed limit. 

Fifteen minutes after Xiumin’s arrival, the two had phoned the cops as well, who had promptly informed that a missing person’s report was to only be filed after twenty four hours. Which Xiumin and Yixing thought was complete bullshit and had been quite keen on letting the officers know. 

Needless to say, all they heard was a, “We’ll do our best to find him” and then dial tone. 

Currently, the taller of the two men was pacing back and forth in the quaint living room. The tall grandfather clock _ tick- tocked  _ quietly in the corner, almost somberly, as if mourning the loss of one of the apartment’s residents. 

Xiumin was scrolling through his contact list, quickly trying his hand at calling anyone with connections to Luhan who could possibly know where he was. Truthfully speaking though, with every passing second, a tiny bit of hope escaped him. Statistically speaking, the longer Luhan went missing…

“I’m going out,” Xiumin suddenly said, turning the full gaze of his cat- shaped eyes onto Yixing, who looked up from his pacing in surprise.

“Out?” he repeated questionably, as if not quite understanding what Xiumin meant. After all, Yixing had already personally walked to the corner store in back, in hopes of finding any trace of Luhan, but it had been to no avail.

Xiumin nodded, already making his way to the door and grabbing his coat from where it was thrown over the arm of the couch by the entrance.

“I’m gonna go look for him. You just stay here, in case he turns up,” Xiumin said firmly, seeing Yixing open his mouth in protest. “There’s no point if both of us go out and he comes back to an empty house.”

The taller man had a look of concern and torn anguish written all over his face. He never was good at concealing his emotions, despite generally being the most passive out of his circle of friends. However, it was different when one, if not the closest, of his friends just seemed to vanish into thin air. 

Honestly though, could someone just tell him what the hell he was supposed to do?

“Ok…” Yixing said slowly, nodding his head almost mechanically, eyes sliding over to stare at a spot on the floor. Xiumin took one last look at him before making his way to the door.

“Yixing,” he called, making the aforementioned man look up at the sound of his name, “don’t do anything stupid, ok?” Xiumin raised his eyebrows at him, as if gaging for a response, and then slipped out the door before Yixing could utter a response. 

“I wouldn’t,” Yixing whispered to himself. Honestly, it was at that moment that he wished for someone he never thought he’d wish for again. Someone who had lulled him into a sweet pretense before trampling all over him and leaving him high and dry. 

Would he know what to do? This kind of thing was right up his alley, wasn’t it? 

Yixing chewed on his lower lip thoughtfully, one hand raised to cup his chin. Should he do it? He supposed at this point, it wasn’t really a matter of whether or not he wanted to do it (although his pride was just begging and weeping for him not to), but rather if it would help in the search for Luhan or not. He waited for another still moment. 

And then reached for his phone. 

* * *

“N- not go home? I’m not- I can’t go home? And why?” Luhan swallowed hard, fingers nervously rolling into clenched fists. He felt like his long sleeve was suddenly two sizes too small, the material scratchy and restricting his breathing. He couldn’t get a decent breath. And was that a bead of cold sweat he felt rolling down his temple?

Kris sighed and leaned against the marble counter, two fingers pinching the bridge of his nose tiredly. He looked exhausted and fed up, but not necessarily angry, which Luhan was eternally grateful for. Not that it made him trust Kris more. It didn’t take him off edge in the slightest. It only proved Kris wasn’t as much of a sporadic psycho as  _ Sehun  _ was (although it seemed that in this place, looks could be quite deceiving). 

“Luhan, just,” he began before being boldly cut off by Luhan.

“And how do you know my name? Why am I here?” Luhan demanded, suddenly feeling a surge of strength. His nails were digging into his palms, but he did his best to suppress the small quaking of his hands

As if noticing Luhan’s state of being, Kris’s eyes slid down towards Luhan’s clenched fists before traveling back up to look him dead in the eyes.

Luhan didn’t miss the way his eyes had momentarily stopped at the bandage on his neck. 

The look in the taller man’s eyes almost made Luhan’s legs turn to jelly. It was so intense, the color so deep and dark that Luhan could have mistaken it for black had it not been for the little flecks of brown he spotted. 

And then suddenly he was gone from the brunette’s view, vanishing from right before his eyes. He heard a small sound from behind him, and then a small, cold breath hovering over the nape of his neck. 

“I won’t hurt you,” whispered a deep voice from behind him.

_ Won’t hurt me my ass _ , Luhan thought with a spiteful bite. He tightened his jaw in both fear and frustration. As far as he could tell, his number one priority was getting the hell out, not making new camp buddies.

“I’m not like Sehun,” Kris added quietly. That piqued Luhan’s attention. Although it wasn’t saying much, considering Sehun didn’t seem exactly… all  _ put together _ , in Luhan’s opinion. 

“Are you guys… even human?” Luhan replied back, laughing slightly at the end. It was strange finally admitting his thoughts aloud. The question wasn’t truly a rhetorical one. After all, Luhan wasn’t an idiot. He could put two and two together and ever since he had stepped foot in the grand mansion (not quite willingly, he could say), there had been unnervingly… strange things that he’d witnessed. But they must have simply been his adrenaline getting the best of him. 

But his question was responded with nothing but a long silence.

Ha. This all simply had to be one sick, huge, fucking joke. Because there was no way he could’ve possibly been the only one walking alone at night and…

“It’s not, like, real, right?” Luhan stared straight ahead of him. He vaguely realized the juice box was still sitting on the table in front of him, untouched, unopened. 

“What do you think is going on, hm?” Kris asked. 

“I think my friends and family are worried sick looking for me right now,” he replied in a roundabout sort of way. A could touch on Luhan’s wrist brought his attention to it. Kris had one hand wrapped around it like a glove. It was chillingly cold, as if he’d just gotten out of a snowstorm. He was absurdly cold.

Luhan watched as his wrist was turned so the pale underside was showing up at him. The skin was so delicate that he could see the faint outlines of veins lying underneath the surface.

Kris’s thumb lightly stroked down a pulsing vein. It suddenly made Luhan hyper- aware of his position, so close to the man looming over him. His grip made him feel uncomfortable. He wanted out. 

Luhan tugged his arm towards himself, only for Kris to yank it right back. The blond suddenly leaned in close to Luhan’s ear, his cold breath just barely shifting the little baby hairs there.

“Did you know that type O is Sehun’s favorite? Because he said he only seeks out those who are like him,” Kai chuckled, although Luhan failed to see what was so humorous about the statement. If anything, it freaked him out even more and he became more desperate in his attempt to get away from Kris. 

This time, the blond let him yank his arm out of the other’s grip. Luhan backed away quickly, one hand clutching his wrist as if it had been burned. Kris merely looked at him with a nonchalant expression. 

“I don’t understand,” Luhan said flatly. 

“Let me show you,” Kris said suddenly and then he was baring his teeth, a sharp, hissing sound jolting Luhan from his murky thoughts and pulling him into the oh- so- real reality of the situation at hand. 

Kris had a full mouth of pearly whites. Although his two canines were elongated, tapering down into a delicate point that looked sharper than any knife Luhan had ever seen before.

He suddenly realized he had stopped breathing, lips pressed together in the tightest line, as if trying to erase signs of life. 

Kris closed his mouth and slightly narrowed his eyes, waiting for some sort of reaction from the smaller man. When he received none (surprisingly), he crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame of an entrance leading out of the kitchen. 

“I’ll bring you to Suho. He’ll know what to do with a little deer like you,” Kris said with a tone of finality, as if Luhan actually had something to do with his decision. 

The annoying nickname Kris had tacked on to the end of his sentence made Luhan’s skin crawl when he realized that was the same thing Sehun had previously called him, but he was too shaken up to do much more than glare and act as if he wasn’t about to collapse on the floor. He felt small and vulnerable, his arms folded close to his body as if trying to make himself as miniscule as possible. 

Kris drummed his fingers against his forearm for a second before nodding to himself and exiting the room.

At a human speed, Luhan thought to himself. He stood there for a moment longer, just to make sure Kris had really gone, before slowly sinking down to the tile floor. He took a shaky deep breath and tipped his head back, suddenly feeling incredibly weary for some reason.

Just what the hell had he gotten into? Kris and Sehun were… not human. They were not like Luhan. They were, well, monsters.

And Luhan was stuck in a house with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this a KrisXLuhan fic?? No?? Could've fooled me. Lmao in all seriousness, thanks for reading! And don't forget to hit that kudos button and leave a comment or two ;)


	5. Black Pearl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead ! But I sure wish I were after writing all this in one sitting and realizing it was trash !

Chapter 5

 

Black Pearl

 

Sehun was angry. No, more than that. He felt… incredibly undermined and alone. Not that that was anything new. He was just used to generally getting his way, was all. Maybe Suho and Kris had been speaking with some element of truth to their words.

His eyebrows were knit together as he stomped his way to the garage. He needed to clear his head and staying put inside the large mansion where all he could smell was the scents of those he was currently trying to get away from would not help dampen his current rage.

Of course, there was also that pesky little human, too. But Sehun could hardly care about that as of right now.

The only sounds in the garage was his footfalls, which stopped when he took a minute to decide whether to take one of the many luxury cars lined up or simply stroll around town by foot.

Sehun turned towards the side door and let himself out into the winter air. Given his current state, he felt like he’d drive one of the cars straight into a pond. Sehun wasn’t stupid- he was just angry. A lot. And easily annoyed.

The night was dark; Sehun offhandedly remembered checking the time to be around three in the morning. The blond sighed heavily and mussed up the back of his head, the other hand sticking in his coat pocket.

He wasn’t sure where he was going. The lot where Sehun and the others lived was pretty far from any nearby towns or shops- the nearest little community being about three miles down the winding path and past the woods that separated them with the rest of humanity. But Sehun was glad it was like that. He liked the feeling of being isolated, tucked away from the humans who only ever saw people like himself as monsters, fictional creatures that didn’t exist.

Well, at least they got one part of it right.

An owl hooted lyrically in the background. Sehun wished it would shut up. He just wanted to be alone for tonight.  

As he continued trekking deeper into the heavily wooded forest, he finally came upon what he was looking for. It was just a simple, little, wooden bench on the side of the path. Sehun remembered it had been Suho who had put it there in the first place, so many years ago. Of course, things were a lot different now, but no one had ever gotten rid of it. Maybe they were afraid of what Sehun would say, or do.

The blond brushed aside some freshly fallen snow that had started piling up on the bench. His pants would get wet, but he hardly noticed the cold, anyways. He sank heavily onto the bench, arms dangling over the back of it.

This was Sehun’s favorite time of the day. Pitch black, with no one out and about, no one nagging him to get to work, or be more careful and cover his tracks. It was just him, and himself. And of course his thoughts. Just himself alone with his raging mind- and that was a little terrifying.

And then Sehun recalled why he was even out in the first place. It was all because Suho was starting to get motherlike again. And he almost brought up something he shouldn’t have.

Sehun’s fists tightened at the bitter memories of the past. He didn’t want to think about them. No, he wished he’d never tried to in the first place.

“I messed up,” he whispered to no one in particular. After all, it was just him and himself. And his thoughts. Always his thoughts, because he never could truly escape from his own mind, always willing to drag him back into the black abyss he had so desperately crawled out of.

He shouldn’t have let the human live. Deep, deep, _way_ deep, in his heart, he knew that he should have just killed it the moment he had let his fangs touch its neck. Why did he think anything good would come out of bringing it back to the others?

He tried convincing himself that he had done it to spite Suho, and maybe even Kris. To show them that he was all better, all good now, and that he wasn’t all screwy in the head anymore. For the most part. No, he was different now, right? Wasn’t that what he wanted? But didn’t he enjoy the thrill of being feared by others, the satisfaction of obedience rolling off the weak in waves?

Nah. He kept it to himself, the reason swallowed deep inside and locked in a box inside his head, but the only reason he turned up with was because of those incredibly stupidly large eyes- bright, doe- like, maybe a little on the innocent side.

They were so unlike his own. He so wanted to be the one to extinguish the light in them.

* * *

“Would you like some juice?” A deceivingly kind voice asked Luhan. He barely shifted his head side to side, silently rejecting the offer. His hands lay in his lap, clasped together tightly and nearly white at the knuckles. Could the other being in the room tell how nervous the boy was? Luhan himself felt like his trepidation was nearly tangible, as if any moment the other would flick out his tongue and be able to taste it in the air.

However, Joonmyeon did nothing of the sort. His dark, dark eyes carefully observed Luhan from his spot on the couch. Joonmyeon crossed his arms and leaned against the wall directly opposite of Luhan. The younger didn’t meet Joonmyeon’s piercing gaze, which wasn’t unexpected, to say the least.

"N- no thank you," he politely declined. Why was everyone here always offering him damn juice?

“I suppose you want to know where you are?” He asked the boy. From his demure looks, the wavy auburn locks to the borderline feminine facial structure and slight build, it seemed that everything about the human boy screamed _prey_.

But of course, Luhan wasn’t Joonmyeon’s type. And even if he were, Joonmyeon had the feeling that not all the beings of the night that resided in the large mansion would be entirely _okay_ with Joonmyeon snacking on Luhan.

A small sound came from across the room, so small that, had it been anyone but Joonmyeon and his enhanced hearing, one may have missed it entirely.

“Yes.”

Joonmyeon smiled gently. He didn’t want to scare the human away, no (although it wasn’t as if he could get away even if he tried. His first two attempts had proved so). Joonmyeon wasn’t so awful a monster that he would kill an innocent being just for the fun of it. He had manners, morals- or what he thought were morals that were tailored to his existence.

“Do you know what I am?”

A slight pause from the other recipient.

“I- I suppose.”

“How old are you, little Lu?” Joonmyeon asked conversationally, as if it were the most natural thing in the world that he were talking with Luhan, the two of them a pair of right old friends.

His sharp eyes caught the slight fidget of Luhan’s hands right before he proceeded to talk.

“I’m 24,” he said quietly, almost to himself.

_Ba- dump. Ba- dump. Ba- dump._

Joonmyeon could hear the incessant beating of the other’s heart. It was almost a relaxing beat, took the edge off his strained senses, calmed his own mind for a moment. It was only for a split second, but Joonmyeon believed that he could have been good friends with this Luhan character. Maybe if he wasn’t what he was and Luhan wasn’t who he was and the world wasn’t so unforgiving of what it didn’t understand.

“Luhan, get up. I want to show you something,” Joonmyeon said neither kindly nor coldly. In a heartbeat, he was at the other’s side and lent out his elbow for the other to take. Luhan’s eyes grew wide for a moment before he quickly composed himself, shakily taking the offered arm and stumbling to his feet.

Joonmyeon smiled humbly at the boy. Now that they were side by side, the height difference between himself and the human wasn’t much. In fact, it seemed that the little deer was perhaps an inch or two taller than Joonmyeon himself. Not that he would admit that aloud.

Then he started moving, walking in brisk steps that forced Luhan to stumble along after him. The grip on his elbow tightened as the pair walked through the dimly lit winding hallways of the mansion, seemingly endless.

There was only one particular corridor that stuck out to Luhan, and it was a great big one with beautifully painted portraits of important looking people, framed in expensive gold and silver frames. However, he hadn’t gotten the chance to really study the solemn figures, as Joonmyeon had tugged him along and Luhan, not wanting to anger the other, had dutifully picked up his pace.

When Joonmyeon suddenly stopped in front of a pair of heavy, dark oak, double doors, Luhan had nearly run into his shoulder. He still didn’t know what they were doing, why Joonmyeon was doing this, why he wasn’t dead yet. Or maybe this room was the area in which the crazies of the house disposed of their victims’ bodies. He had yet to find out.

But when the mysterious dark-haired man pushed open the heavy doors, Luhan’s eyes were exposed to a beautiful, dazzling sight- one that made his eyes grow round with amazement and jaw dropping wide open.

“It’s lovely, isn’t it?” Came a bemused voice from behind him. Luhan hadn’t even noticed he’d taken a few steps forward until his fingers came to rest on a particularly stunning object on one of the many long, handsome tables in the room.

There were two floor- to- ceiling rectangular windows on each side of the room, allowing the ghostly moonlight outside shine through them and cast light onto the contents of the room.

There were piles of jewels, pearls, rubies, multicolored gems that Luhan didn’t even have a name for. Old, half- open chests were pushed into corners, with dark fabrics and silks spilling out of its contents. There were tables, armoiries, and mysterious, sheet- covered objects that gave the room an overall crowded look, despite the large area.

Luhan’s fingers delicately brushed across the length of an outstretched band of diamonds, glittering oh- so prettily in the moonlight cast upon it.

“Why d- did you bring me here?” Luhan muttered clumsily, silently berating himself for the stumble. He couldn’t help but feel nervous with his back to Joonmyeon, although out of the three residents of the mansion he’d met so far, Joonmyeon was certainly winning his preference of a guest by far.

“Why? Why not?” the brunette said slyly, one side of his mouth quirking up in a small grin. He liked asking the other questions. It was fun. “Would you want to stay here if I gave you everything in this room, Luhan?” He offered suddenly.

The absurd request made Luhan reel around, hands clutching at the table behind for support. His mouth opened and closed rather hilariously, eyebrow knit together in an utterly confused expression.

“You- I- I’m, I ju- everything? You want to give me _everything_?” He repeated in disbelief. No, he must have heard incorrectly, right?

After all, it wasn’t like he wanted to stay here even if he was offered all the riches of the world. He didn’t feel comfortable here. He didn’t even know where here was. Here was cold, and scary, and more than anything, Luhan wanted to be back in his dingy little apartment that he shared with Yixing, snuggled under a warm blanket and watching a stupid little movie on the shitty TV they owned.

Joonmyeon nodded assuredly and gestured around them. “Yes. Everything here. Luhan, I’m asking you- would you please stay here for a little while longer if you received all this as payment?”

“This is crazy…” the auburn- haired boy whispered to himself. That was it. These people were actually crazy. They were just playing with him and this was all a joke and he couldn’t believe he was actually even _here_ an-

_Oh_. Joonmyeon was suddenly very, very close to Luhan, almost near enough that if either one moved forward, their noses would touch.

“I have somewhat of a thorn in my side right now and I think you would be an awfully big help to me if you could help out this thorn,” Joonmyeon whispered into Luhan’s ear. The cold breath made Luhan shiver, his legs feeling like lead beneath him. Something about the way Joonmyeon worded his sentence made his stomach twist, churn uncomfortably at the insinuation…

Joonmyeon seemed to have noticed his uneasiness because then he laughed jovially, leaning away from the younger boy and patting his shoulder rather familiarly.

“Perhaps I worded that a little… wrongly,” he grinned devilishly, causing a light color to settle on Luhan’s cheeks, “I mean to say that this house is really in quite a lot of… trouble right now. I think it would do some good to have a little water to tame down the flames, don’t you?”

Luhan had no words. How could he say no to the demonic being in front of him? To scream no and demand he be returned to his loved ones? Granted, Luhan still wasn’t even sure if Joonmyeon was… the same thing Kris had been, but at this point any and all good looking men he ran into would be deemed the same thing. It was a little disconcerting.

“I-” his voice came out cracked and hoarse, and Luhan quickly cleared it and flitted his tongue across his lips to dampen them. His words seemed to be choked in his throat and he struggled to string his thoughts into a coherent sentence.

And then Joonmyeon was reaching behind him, retrieving something, and he felt something cold and light resting on his collarbones. It seemed barely three seconds had gone by before Joonmyeon was putting space between the two bodies, his hand tipped in a mock salute to the other as he made his way to the door.

“I’ve always thoughts black pearls looked the loveliest on someone with a pale complexion. Of course, those didn’t suit any of our styles, but maybe you’ll agree with me when you see how much they belong on you,” Joonmyeon called out casually, one hand resting on the door handle. “I’m s- I’m. Sorry, Luhan, but please, won’t you treat Sehun with care?” and then Luhan found himself alone in the room with the precious jewelry and silks and all things exotic.

One hand flew up to carefully prod at the thing Joonmyeon had clasped around his neck. He caught his reflection from across the room in a dusty old mirror, elegantly carved but paint fading with age. The boy’s lips parted slightly in awe as he fingered the delicate chain around his neck, the silver sparkling and dipping across his collarbones, meeting at a single, black pearl. The thing was almost ethereal looking, nearly out of place, but creating a clashing, stunning contrast against his milky skin.

But wait.

_Sehun?!_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hmmm...yes...drop a comment and tell me your thoughts! I feel like I accidentally changed the characterization of everyone in this story?? Haha, maybe it's because I haven't written it in so long. Ik there wasn't a whole lot of content in this chapter, I've just been awfully busy these past few weeks. Thanks for reading!


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